1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an irrigation device and method of use. More specifically, the present invention relates to a portable irrigation device and method of use that provides for slow, efficient watering of plants and decreases water waste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As water increasingly becomes a scarce resource and as many cities are forced to impose water restrictions due to drought conditions, water management and conservation have become even greater concerns in lawn care programs. Currently, many different devices are available for irrigating lawns, trees, shrubs, flower beds and various other plants. Design problems in current irrigation devices, however, present several disadvantages that are overcome by the present invention.
Conventional garden hoses, for example, may be used for watering flowers, trees, shrubs and the like. Such water hoses are made to be water impenetrable so that water does not leak from the hose as it passes from one end to the other, thereby serving as a conduit for conveying water from a water source to a specific plant. Using a garden hose to water plants, however, can be very time consuming and wasteful. The water saturates a small area around a plant at a rate that is too high to allow the soil and plant roots time to effectively absorb the water, resulting in evaporation and runoff of the standing water.
A soaker hose is another device regularly used in lawn care programs. Generally, soaker hoses are made of a flat or ribbon-like plastic tubing that has a series of small perforations on a top face thereof along the length of the hose. When connected to a water source, water seeps through the perforations in the hose to irrigate plants along the length of the hose. For proper operation, the soaker hose must remain in an upright position so that the perforations extend upwardly when laid on the ground. However, because they are made of a flexible, lightweight tubing, soaker hoses have a tendency to twist and kink. Twisted portions in the hose cause the water issuing from the twisted portions to spray in a different direction than desired, such as directly against the ground. Kinked portions in the hose reduce or completely shut off the flow of water to the portion of the hose downstream from the kink. To prevent a soaker hose from twisting or kinking, users oftentimes lay bricks or heavy weights on the soaker hose, or use ground stakes to attach the soaker hose to the ground. As a result, soaker hoses essentially become fixed in one place and cannot be easily moved or repositioned.
Another problem with soaker hoses occurs because the water source supplying the soaker hose is typically located two to three feet above the ground. This configuration, combined with the high water velocity and pressure at the water source, results in significantly over-watering the area closest to the water source and under-watering the area farthest from the water source.
As for lawn irrigation systems, one of the most popular has been the conventional lawn sprinkler. While manual, hose-fed sprinkler heads are inexpensive, such sprinklers must be manually moved throughout the lawn and are very time consuming to operate. On the other hand, automatic water sprinklers utilize a permanently installed network of underground piping and are much less time consuming to operate compared to manual water sprinklers. Automatic systems, however, are extremely expensive and are subject to high maintenance costs due to freezing damage, construction interference, damage during plant cultivation, rodent vandalism and damage to above ground sprinkler heads via lawn mowing equipment.
Many drawbacks of automatic and manual sprinkler systems are caused by the water delivery method used by these systems. Sprinkler heads deliver water to the general area of a plant, rather than specifically to the root system of the plant, and as a result, these devices require much more water and time to deliver water in sufficient quantities. Additionally, especially in hot, dry climates, water from sprinkler heads is highly susceptible to evaporation because water evaporates from droplets sprayed through the air before reaching the soil. Also, even a slight breeze can easily divert water sprayed through the air from its intended target. Plus, sloped areas of lawns are prone to discoloration because water from sprinklers runs off slopes before it has had time to be absorbed into the soil. Furthermore, as is well known in the art, sprinklers require spray overlap for uniform ground coverage. Sprinklers vary in distribution patterns, however, and oftentimes the spray does not overlap and misses certain corners or spots of a lawn resulting in dry and discolored patches of grass also known as “hot spots.”
While the present invention is not intended to completely replace sprinkler systems for irrigating an entire grass lawn, the disclosed device is intended to be used in conjunction with sprinkler systems to overcome many of the above-described problems experienced with these systems.
Traditional lawn and turf irrigation systems, such as sprinkler systems, that are designed primarily for delivering irrigation water over the ground surface to irrigate grass and other shallow-rooted plants have generally proven to be inadequate for proper water delivery to deep-rooted plants such as trees and large shrubs. Particularly when planted in non-native or hostile environments, trees and shrubs may require special irrigation in order to achieve optimal health and growth. Light surface watering with traditional lawn and turf irrigation systems promotes shallow root systems and starves deeper roots, as roots develop where the surface water is available. This type of development leaves a tree at high risk of winter injury, summer heat stress, and wind damage.
On the other hand, over-watering, which often results from using a garden hose or a soaker hose left running near the base of a tree for a long period of time, is just as harmful as inadequate watering. While it is a common practice to water trees at the base of the trunk, frequently in a depression in the ground around the base, allowing the ground around a tree trunk and the trunk itself to be saturated with standing water, promotes disease, pests, and decay. Also, tree roots need oxygen to breathe. Excess moisture, however, pushes oxygen from the soil and a lack of oxygen harms and can eventually kill tree roots.
In an effort to provide improved delivery of irrigation water to deep subsurface roots of large plants such as trees, a variety of specialized deep-root watering devices and systems have been developed. Deep-root watering systems include devices that extend downwardly into the ground in close proximity to the roots of an adjacent plant such as a tree. These devices utilize one or more porous sleeves, cylinders, stakes or the like, installed beneath the ground surface in relatively close proximity to the roots of an adjacent plant. Irrigation water can be delivered manually to the interior of the porous device from a bucket, garden hose, etc., or automatically on a scheduled basis by means of an irrigation device mounted within the porous device. The irrigation water permeates through the porous device in an attempt to reach the deep subsurface plant roots.
Unfortunately, there are many problems with this method for watering deep subsurface plant roots. Such watering devices and systems can be very expensive and installation is typically difficult and time consuming. To install deep-root watering stakes, for example, users are generally required to use a hammer or similar device to insert the stakes into the ground. In order to insert the stakes into hard ground, users may have to use a sledge hammer or an auger bit to pound or force the stake into the ground. Not surprisingly, in the process of installing deep-root watering systems, users often inadvertently damage underground lines or pipes. Also, as plant roots enlarge, they may cause harm to these underground watering devices.
Furthermore, deep-root watering with a porous device thrust into the soil is not as good for trees and other deep-rooted plants as surface applications. Since most of the absorbing roots of trees are in the top approximately twelve inches of the soil, water should be applied across the soil surface and allowed to slowly soak into the soil. Surface soaking allows tree roots more chances to absorb water, helps maintain soil health, and helps maintain essential element cycling and transformations in the soil. Applying water below the surface misses the active roots and allows water to drain away from the roots, wasting valuable water resources.
Finally, as water becomes more expensive, the use of drip irrigation in lawn care programs has increased in popularity. Drip irrigation is an irrigation method that uses a minimum amount of water to irrigate plants. Drip irrigation lines, such as those made of plastic pipes or tubing, are fitted with periodic emitters for delivering water to plant root areas. Emitters discharge a small volume of water per unit time to allow the soil to fully absorb the water. Users try to position emitters to deliver water slowly and directly to the root zone of specific plants in a landscape or garden.
While drip irrigation conserves water by applying water directly to the soil, thereby decreasing water waste from drift, evaporation or runoff, design problems in current drip irrigation systems present several problems. Similar to some of the problems experienced with soaker hoses, the long lengths of drip irrigation lines, such as those made from plastic tubing, have a tendency to kink, which shuts off the flow of water to the tubing downstream from the kink. To prevent kinking and in order to keep the tubing in a fixed position on the ground, users typically use ground stakes or the like to attach the tubing to the ground. As a result, the tubing essentially becomes fixed in one place and cannot be easily moved or repositioned.
This immobility of current drip irrigation systems causes many problems. For example, tubing left out in the sun has a shortened usable life because the ultraviolet rays of the sun cause the tubing to become brittle and crack or break. Also, while a new plant may require only one emitter initially, as the plant grows, so does its demand for water. Therefore, the drip irrigation system needs to be movable so that additional emitters can be directed towards growing plants as needed. Also, oftentimes after installing a new drip irrigation system, a user finds that certain plants or segments of the lawn or garden are being under-watered whereas other areas are being over-watered. However, due to the immobility of current systems, it is difficult and time-consuming to reposition or relocate the tubing to fix the uneven watering problems.
Another problem with drip irrigation systems is its unsightly appearance when left uncovered on the ground surface. As a result, the tubing is often buried or covered by mulch or plant foliage, making it even more immobile and making it difficult to monitor the effectiveness of the system. Buried or covered tubing is susceptible to blocked or clogged emitters, root intrusion, and harm from wayward lawn mowers, other lawn tools or rodents. Uncovered tubing, on the other hand, becomes easy prey for pets, kids, and even vandalism in public locations.
Additionally, users face many problems when trying to use drip irrigation lines to water large plants such as trees. Not only is it unfeasible to use drip irrigation lines for watering trees for the reasons listed above, but also, drip irrigation lines typically do not provide a sufficient supply of water to the entire root area of large trees.
Currently, a need exists for an irrigation device that conserves water and that is simple and time efficient to operate. An irrigation device is needed that is both lightweight and that is configured to remain in a desired position during use without requiring heavy objects or stakes to anchor it to the ground. A device is needed that can be easily repositioned or moved to another location and that can be stored away when not in use. An irrigation device is needed that is inexpensive and simple to manufacture. Further, a device is needed that delivers water directly to the root zone of plants in a manner that decreases the likelihood that water will be wasted due to evaporation, wind and runoff. There is a need for an irrigation device that can effectively water shallow-rooted plants, including reviving dry and discolored “hot spots” in lawns, and that can be used to effectively water deep-rooted plants such as trees and shrubs. Unlike existing irrigation devices that often over-water or under-water desired areas, a need exists for a device that delivers a slow, controlled and even distribution of water to a targeted area.
In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that a need exists in the art for a portable irrigation device which overcomes, mitigates or solves the above problems in the art. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art which will become more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.